The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
April 29 - Rollin' On The River
As we got to the part of town where the boats were docked, it became immediately apparent that we might have a problem. These boats were WAY down from the road. We were all good on fairly even surfaces where we could roll the bags, but there was no way we were going to be able to roll them to the boat ... and certainly no way for Margene to carry hers down more than three steps. Not to worry -- Chinese ingenuity to the rescue. For about ten bucks US, a tag team of (very rugged) locals carried about 300 pounds of our luggage the half mile or so (and down a few hundred steps) to the boat. I will never say anything bad about cheap Chinese labor!
Our boat is the Presidential No. 8, also known as the Princess Sissi. It is rated as a 4-star ship and allegedly caters to foreign tourists. There is, in fact, a higher price for those without Chinese citizenship. The Yangtze is the third longest river in the world, bested only by the Nile and the Amazon. Needless to say, it carries a lot of traffic. The town itself actually seemed rather depressing by daylight ... but that was all about to change.
The surprise of the night came when the sun went down, the lights came on and the lasers began firing patters across the river. The Chinese seem to be very big on evening lighting but this is the first time we have seen the laser show. The shabby-looking restaurant boats that had been tied up alongside us suddenly became floating palaces filled with groups (mainly tourists, I expect) out for an evening event. It was really quite magical and I am glad we left a few hours later so we could keep that as our last impression of Chongqing.
The scenery on this boat is the best! How can you have a bad time when you have gorgeous women like this to look at. Well, perhaps there are a few downers ...
© 2008 Restaurant Doctor
[